KR101023566B1 - Method and apparatus for managing base transceiver station - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a base station management method and apparatus. In the base station management method of the present invention, receiving the signal strength of the at least one neighboring base station registered in the neighbor base station list of the predetermined base station from the predetermined base station, whether there is a faulty base station among the at least one neighboring base station by using the received signal strength And checking whether there is a failure base station, and adjusting pilot power of the predetermined base station. According to the present invention, when the coverage of a specific base station cell is changed due to a failure, the overlapping area of the base station cell and the coverage of neighboring base station cells can be effectively adjusted.

Mobile communication, base station, coverage, pilot channel, overlapped area, shaded area

Description

Base station management method and apparatus {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING BASE TRANSCEIVER STATION}

The present invention relates to a base station management method and apparatus.

In general, a forward channel in a CDMA system may be classified into an overhead channel (pilot, paging, sync, etc.) and a traffic channel. The overhead channel power is fixed and the traffic channel power is variable due to the influence of the call load and power control.

Here, the power allocation of the pilot channel among the overhead channels usually uses 15% to 20% of the maximum forward power. For example, if a total of 20W (Watt) forward power allocation is possible, if 20% is allocated to the pilot channel, 4W is always used as the pilot channel power.

Meanwhile, in the mobile communication network, it is the signal strength (pilot power) of the pilot channel that determines the coverage of the base station signal, that is, the coverage of the base station cell. The base station broadcasts its cell information through a pilot channel, and a terminal near the base station receives the cell information and updates the base station cell in its active cell list according to a predetermined condition. do. As such, a range in which the pilot channel signal transmitted from the base station arrives, that is, a range in which the terminal can receive cell information of the base station becomes coverage of the base station cell. How to adjust the pilot power is different depending on each manufacturer's implementation method, most implementation method is to use the pilot power fixed by using the power gain (power gain).

As such, the coverage of the base station cell varies according to the adjustment of the pilot power, which is easy to be confused with power control, which is a term used in the mobile communication field. Power control is an operation that occurs between the base station and the terminal. When the signal strength of either side is reduced, the other side transmits the signal more strongly, thereby maintaining a good radio quality between the base station and the terminal. However, unlike the pilot power control, the power control is performed only in the traffic state between the terminal and the base station. That is, when the terminal is in the idle state, since the base station does not need to consider the radio quality of the terminal, power control is performed only when the call is actually connected. Since the power control is performed for the terminal within the coverage of the base station cell, the power control signal for the terminal within the coverage of another cell only acts as noise.

In order to provide a stable service, the mobile communication network usually overlaps the coverage of a plurality of base station cells to prevent the shadow area. According to various environmental factors, it is necessary to efficiently adjust the overlapping area. When the number of base stations installed in the field is very large, it is almost impossible to manually adjust the coverage of each base station cell. Therefore, there is a need for a method for more efficiently adjusting the coverage of the base station to form an appropriate overlap area.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus capable of efficiently adjusting an overlapping area of a coverage of a base station cell and neighboring base station cells when the coverage of a particular base station cell changes due to a failure or the like.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention, which are not mentioned above, can be understood by the following description, and more clearly by the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing a base station, the method comprising: receiving signal strengths of at least one neighboring base station registered in a neighbor base station list of a predetermined base station from a predetermined base station, using at least one neighboring base station Checking whether there is a faulty base station and if there is a faulty base station, adjusting pilot power of a predetermined base station.

In addition, the present invention provides a base station management apparatus, a failure base station of one or more neighboring base station by using a receiving unit for receiving the signal strength of the at least one neighboring base station registered in the neighbor base station list of the predetermined base station and the received signal strength It is characterized in that it comprises a control unit for checking whether there exists, and if there is a failure base station as a result of the existence check, and adjusts the pilot power of the predetermined base station.

According to the present invention as described above, when the coverage of a particular base station cell is changed due to the occurrence of a failure, there is an advantage that can effectively adjust the overlap area with the coverage of the base station cell and the adjacent base station cells.

The above objects, features, and advantages will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, whereby those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may easily implement the technical idea of the present invention. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

In a region where a mobile communication service is provided, a plurality of base stations are usually installed, and the coverages of the base station cells overlap each other. If a region, ie, a shaded region, which does not belong to the coverage of any base station cell is created, it may not be possible to provide a mobile communication service or degrade the quality of service in the region. Therefore, the mobile operator prevents the occurrence of the shadow area by overlapping the coverage of the base station cells.

If a problem occurs in a base station and a change in the coverage of the base station cell, this may cause a problem in providing a mobile communication service in the area covered by the base station cell. If the coverage of the base station cell in which the problem is widened and the overlapping area is widened, unnecessary handover may occur, and a signal of a neighboring cell may act as noise to the terminal, thereby degrading radio quality. In addition, as the coverage overlaps, the base station consumes power unnecessarily, resulting in deterioration of equipment. On the contrary, when the coverage of the problematic base station cell is reduced, the shadow area described above may occur.

Therefore, the mobile service provider is trying to efficiently adjust the coverage of each base station cell to form an ideal overlap area. However, since there are usually less than 10 neighboring cells affecting one base station cell, and about 20 in the non-urban area, about 20 cells in the urban area can manually adjust the effect on other cells even if the coverage of one base station cell is adjusted. It is almost impossible to calculate and adjust with.

The present invention is due to the above problems, and when a problem occurs in a base station cell and the coverage of the base station cell changes, the cell coverage of the base stations adjacent to the base station is changed (dynamic) by overlapping the area between the base station cells The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus capable of efficiently managing the same. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar components.

1A to 1C are diagrams for describing the coverage of a base station cell and the overlapping and shadowed areas caused by the base station cell. Here, it is assumed that two base stations are installed for convenience of description.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the coverage of the base station cells is set to overlap each other in normal times. Since the base station is installed at a fixed position, the pilot power for determining the coverage of the base station cell does not change unless there is a special tuning issue (eg, a failure of the base station).

However, due to a failure or abnormality of the base station, a change may occur in the pilot power of the base station, but FIG. 1B illustrates such a situation. That is, FIG. 1B illustrates a situation in which coverage is reduced due to an abnormality in base station A and a decrease in pilot power. In this case, the overlapping region disappears, and there is a shaded region between base stations A and B where no coverage of any base station cell reaches.

Accordingly, in the present invention, in the situation as shown in FIG. 1B, the pilot power of the base station A and the neighboring base station B is automatically adjusted, thereby preventing the occurrence of the shaded area as shown in FIG. 1C.

2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a problem and an ideal overlap area when the overlap area of the base station cell is wider than necessary.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the coverages of three A, B, and C base station cells overlap each other. As such, when the overlapping area formed by the coverage of the three base station cells is formed relatively wide, the following problem may occur. If it is assumed that a terminal receiving a service through base station A moves to an overlapping area with B or C, unnecessary handover may occur if the signal of B or C is measured as good in the overlapping area. That is, even though the signal of the base station A is a very good place, when the overlapping area with the adjacent base station B or C becomes wider, the base stations B and C need pilot power unnecessarily. In addition, when the overlapped area is wide, the signal of another overlapped cell is received. At this time, the signal of the other cell acts as a noise to the terminal, resulting in a decrease in radio quality.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, by adjusting the coverage of each base station cell, an optimized overlap region may be obtained. By adjusting the coverage, the overlapped area can be reduced to a minimum, thereby reducing the frequency of handover and unnecessary waste of power of the base station. However, the condition that the shadow area should not occur even if the overlap area is adjusted should be assumed.

3 is a network diagram illustrating a connection between a base station management apparatus and a base station according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base station management apparatus 302 according to the present invention includes a receiver 304 and a controller 306. The base station management apparatus 302 may be a base station controller (BSC) itself, may be included as some module of the base station controller, or may exist as a separate device or server from the base station controller. The base station management device 302 is connected to a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs) to manage these base stations. In the following description, it is assumed that the base station management apparatus 302 manages four base stations A, B, C, and D.

In the present invention, each base station (A, B, C, D) has a 'neighbor base station list' for each base station. Each base station measures the signal strength of base stations that exist around the base station. At this time, base stations having a signal strength of a predetermined reference or more are defined as 'adjacent' base stations, that is, 'adjacent base stations'. In other words, the neighboring base station is a base station that is adjacent enough to form an overlap area with the cell coverage of the base station, the 'neighborhood base station list' is a list of such neighbor base stations and the signal strength of the neighboring base stations measured by the base station is recorded. It means a list. The neighbor base station list of the present invention is a completely different concept from the 'neighbor list' commonly used in the mobile communication field.

The receiving unit 304 included in the base station management apparatus 302 receives the signal strength of the neighboring base station registered in the neighboring base station list of the predetermined base station from the predetermined base station. For example, in FIG. 3, the cell coverage of base station A forms an overlap region with the cell coverage of base station C, and base station C is registered as a neighbor base station in the neighbor base station list of base station A. FIG. At this time, the reception unit 304 receives the signal strength of the base station C measured by the base station A from the base station A. Although not shown in the drawing, the receiver 304 may also receive signal strengths of other neighbor base stations registered in the neighbor base station list of the base station A, measured by the base station A. Here, there may be various signal strengths of neighboring base stations measured by the base station, and one of them may include a receiving signal code power (RSCP). In an embodiment of the present invention, base station A measures RSCP of neighboring base stations and reports it to base station management device 302.

The controller 306 checks whether there is a faulty base station among neighboring base stations using the signal strength received through the receiver 304. Here, the "failure base station" refers to a base station having a failure due to the base station itself or an external factor. For example, when the signal strength received through the receiver 304 is less than or equal to a predetermined reference, the controller 306 may determine that a failure occurs in the corresponding base station.

As a result of confirming whether or not a faulty base station exists, if there is a faulty base station, the controller 306 adjusts the pilot power of the base station having the faulty base station as an adjacent base station. For example, when the controller 306 determines that a failure has occurred in any one of the neighbor base stations registered in the neighbor base station list of the base station A, the controller 306 may prevent the occurrence of the shadow area due to the reduction of coverage of the failed base station A. Increase pilot power. This allows base station A (or another base station) to cover the area that the failed base station cannot cover.

In addition, the controller 306 may perform a function of reporting a failure situation of the failed base station to the operation system. In the present invention, it is determined whether or not a failure of the base station through the measurement of the signal strength, once the failure occurs by reporting it to the operating system can induce the system operator to directly determine the actual cause of the failure of the base station.

Hereinafter, a base station management method according to the present invention will be described through embodiments. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that all four base stations A, B, C, and D are controlled by one base station controller. In addition, the base station management apparatus according to the present invention may be the base station controller itself, may be included as some modules of the base station controller, may exist as a separate device or server from the base station controller.

4A is a diagram for describing a process of generating a neighboring base station list for performing a base station management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, in order to perform the base station management method according to the present invention, a neighbor base station list for each base station should be generated first. That is, when the base station is arranged as shown in Figure 4a, the base stations A, B, C, D should each have its own neighbor base station list. Hereinafter, for convenience, only the neighbor base station list generation process of base station A will be described, but this process may be similarly applied to other base stations.

As shown in FIG. 4A, base station A receives and measures information about base stations B, C, and D in its vicinity and the signal strengths of the base stations. Among the neighbor base stations, a base station having a signal strength equal to or greater than a predetermined reference is determined as a neighbor base station and registered in the neighbor base station list. For example, the predetermined criterion may be whether the signal strength is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, or whether the signal strength is greater than or equal to a predetermined value for a predetermined time.

In other words, in the neighbor base station list of the base station A, only the base stations close enough to the A to form the overlap area with the cell coverage of the base station A are registered as the neighbor base stations. In FIG. 4A, it is assumed that only base station C satisfies this requirement and is registered as a neighbor base station of base station A. FIG. Since the base station is installed in a fixed area and the installed location does not change frequently, the list of neighboring base stations generated through this process also does not change from time to time.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the neighbor base station list is a base station A measures the signal strength of the other base stations and reports them to the base station controller, the base station controller creates and manages the neighbor base station list for each base station based on the reported signal strength. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, each base station may directly generate the neighbor base station list based on the signal strength measured by the base station, and transmit the generated neighbor base station list to the base station controller. The generated neighbor base station list may be stored and managed in a separate database.

Table 1 shows an example of the neighbor base station list generated through this process.

Base station A
Adjacent Base Station List Adjacent base station Signal strength (dBm) C 55 F 57 … …

In Table 1, in the neighbor base station list of base station A, signal strengths of neighbor base stations (C, F, F are not shown) and corresponding neighbor base stations measured at base station A are recorded.

4B is a diagram illustrating the cell coverage in a steady state of base station A and base station C, which are adjacent base stations of base station A. FIG.

When both base station A and base station C operate normally, the coverage of each base station cell is as shown in FIG. 4B. That is, the cell coverage of the base station A and the base station C forms an overlapping area with each other.

In the situation where the neighbor base station list is generated through the above-described process, and the base station C is normal as shown in FIG. 4b, the base station A measures the signal strength of the neighbor base stations registered in its neighbor base station list at regular intervals, and thus the base station according to the present invention. Report to the management device. The base station management apparatus updates and manages the neighbor base station list of the base station A based on the signal strength of each neighbor base station received from the base station A.

Here, it is assumed that a case where the signal strength of the base station C measured by the base station A decreases to or below a predetermined level or becomes zero due to a failure of the base station C occurs. The base station management apparatus checks the signal strength change of the base station C, and determines that the base station C is the faulty base station when it is confirmed that the signal strength of the base station C is kept below a predetermined value for a predetermined time.

If base station C fails and cell coverage is reduced, shadowed areas may occur, which may result in a deterioration of service quality. In order to prevent this, the base station management apparatus increases the pilot power of the base station A. 4C is a diagram illustrating an increase in cell coverage of the base station A by the base station management apparatus when the signal strength of the base station C becomes zero.

There may be various ways for the base station management apparatus to adjust the pilot power of the base station A. In an embodiment of the present invention, the pilot power of the base station A is adjusted using the pilot power adjustment table. Table 2 shows an example of a pilot power adjustment table.

Of adjacent base stations
Signal strength Of adjacent base stations
Signal strength (-dBm) Of base station A
Pilot power adjustment (-dBm) Of base station A
Pilot power up or down increase






decrease 70-80 33 Slightly reduced 60-70 34 50-60 35 usually 40-50 36 30 to 40 40 0-30 45 maximum max = 60

As shown in Table 2, the pilot power adjustment table shows the signal strength of the adjacent base station and the pilot power adjustment value of the base station A corresponding thereto. Next to each, whether the neighboring base station increases or decreases the signal strength and whether the base station A increases or decreases the pilot power.

For example, since the signal strength of the steady-state base station C measured by the base station A is 55, the corresponding pilot power of the base station A is 35. However, when an error occurs in the base station C and the signal strength drops below 30, the base station management apparatus increases the pilot power of the base station A to 45 with reference to the pilot power adjustment table in Table 2. As shown in Table 2, by using such a pilot power adjustment table, the pilot power adjustment value of the base station A does not exceed 60, which is the maximum power that the base station A can output. These adjustments can be set to optimal values by the system operator in consideration of various equipment characteristics and other environmental factors.

When a failure occurs in the base station C and the coverage of the base station A is adjusted by the base station management apparatus according to the present invention, the base station A covers the area covered by the base station C as shown in FIG. 4C. So far, only the base station A has been described for convenience, but similarly, the adjustment of coverage may be similarly performed in the base stations B and D adjacent to the base station C. Therefore, when a failure occurs in one base station, the cell coverage of adjacent base stations is automatically adjusted to minimize the occurrence of the shadow area.

If the coverage of the base station A is adjusted as shown in Figure 4c, the base station management device may report the failure situation of the base station C to the operating system. Since the base station management apparatus checks only the signal strength to determine the failure state of the base station C, it cannot be known until what caused the failure state in the base station C. Therefore, it is possible to report to the operating system that the failure of the base station C, and to induce the system operator to directly identify the cause of the failure of the base station C. Here, the operating system is a system that manages the whole or part of the mobile communication network, and means a system that enables the system operator to grasp the whole or part of the failure situation by displaying the failure situation of the base station with the failure on the output such as a display. .

If the failure condition of the base station C is solved and the cell coverage of the base station C is returned to the normal state again, in one embodiment of the present invention, the pilot power of the base station A is normal again as shown in FIG. 4B by repeating the base station management method described above. I can adjust it in a state.

In another embodiment of the present invention, even when the coverage of the base station C is confirmed to be restored to the normal state, the pilot power of the base station A may not be adjusted to the normal state. Although it is confirmed by the base station management apparatus that the coverage of the base station C is restored to the normal state, the recovery state of the pilot power may be a temporary recovery state due to a cause other than the normal state of the base station itself. In addition, even though the pilot power of the base station C seems to be normal, it may be the case that the service provision of the base station C itself is impossible due to an abnormality in other parts except for the pilot power. In preparation for such cases, another embodiment of the present invention may only perform the step of adjusting the pilot power of the base station A when a failure occurs in the base station C, and then adjust the pilot power of the base station A at the discretion of the system operator. have.

According to the present invention described so far, when the coverage of a specific base station cell is changed due to a failure, etc., there is an advantage that the overlapping area of the base station cell and the coverage of neighboring base station cells can be efficiently adjusted.

The method of the present invention as described above can be written in a computer program. And the code and code segments constituting the program can be easily inferred by a computer programmer in the art. In addition, the written program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium (information storage medium), and read and executed by a computer to implement the method of the present invention. And the recording medium includes all types of recording media (intangible medium such as a carrier wave as well as tangible media such as CD and DVD) readable by a computer.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited by.

1A to 1C are diagrams for explaining coverage of a base station cell and overlapping and shadowed areas caused by the base station cell.

2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the problem and ideal overlap area when the overlap area of the base station cell is wider than necessary.

3 is a network diagram illustrating a connection between a base station management apparatus and a base station according to the present invention.

4A is a diagram illustrating a process of generating a neighbor base station list for performing a base station management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing normal cell coverage of base station A and base station C, which is an adjacent base station of base station A; FIG.

4C is a diagram illustrating an increase in cell coverage of base station A by the base station management apparatus when the pilot power of base station C becomes zero.

Claims (10)

Receiving signal strengths of one or more neighboring base stations registered in a neighbor base station list of a predetermined base station from the predetermined base station; Checking whether a faulty base station exists among the one or more neighboring base stations using the received signal strength; And Adjusting the coverage area between the predetermined base station and the failed base station by adjusting the pilot power of the predetermined base station when the presence of the failed base station exists as a result of the checking of the existence; The coverage of the at least one neighboring base station forms a region overlapping with the coverage of the predetermined base station. According to claim 1, The coverage area adjustment step Referencing a pilot power adjustment table; Obtaining a pilot power adjustment value corresponding to the signal strength of the faulty base station in the pilot power adjustment table; And Adjusting pilot power of the predetermined base station using the pilot power adjustment value; The pilot power adjustment table And at least one signal strength and a pilot power adjustment value corresponding to the at least one signal strength. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The neighbor base station list of the predetermined base station is Receiving signal strengths of base stations around the predetermined base station measured by the predetermined base station; And Registering a base station having a signal strength higher than a predetermined reference among the base stations around the predetermined base station as the neighbor base station in the neighbor base station list; Base station management method generated by. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The step of determining whether the failure base station is present Checking whether the received signal strength is below a predetermined reference; And Determining that the neighboring base station is a faulty base station when the received signal strength is less than or equal to a predetermined criterion. Base station management method comprising. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And reporting a failure situation of the failed base station to an operation system. A receiving unit which receives, from the predetermined base station, signal strengths of at least one neighboring base station registered in a neighbor base station list of a predetermined base station; And Check whether there is a faulty base station among the one or more neighboring base stations by using the received signal strength, and if the faulty base station exists as a result of the presence check, adjusting the pilot power of the predetermined base station to adjust the predetermined base station. And a control unit for adjusting a coverage area between the faulty base station and The base station management device that the coverage of the at least one neighboring base station forms a region overlapping with the coverage of the predetermined base station. The method according to claim 6, The control unit Obtaining a pilot power adjustment value corresponding to the signal strength of the faulty base station in a pilot power adjustment table, adjusting the pilot power of the predetermined base station using the pilot power adjustment value, The pilot power adjustment table And at least one signal strength and a pilot power adjustment value corresponding to the at least one signal strength. The method according to claim 6 or 7, In the neighbor base station list of the predetermined base station And a base station having a signal strength equal to or greater than a predetermined reference among the base stations around the predetermined base station as a result of signal strength measurement of the base stations around the predetermined base station measured by the predetermined base station. The method according to claim 6 or 7, The control unit And determining whether the received signal strength is less than or equal to a predetermined criterion, and if the received signal strength is less than or equal to a predetermined criterion, determining the adjacent base station as a failure base station. The method according to claim 6 or 7, The control unit A base station management device for reporting a failure situation of the failed base station to the operating system.

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